Clip forming and clamping machine



May 30, 1939. u sl w cz 2,160,781

CLIP FORMING AND CLAMPING MMJIIIIIE Filed Jan. 7, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENT OR [pm 'as Lu sea 2'9 AT'ITO IEY.

May 30, 1939. 1. LUKASIEWICZ CLIP FORMING AND CLAMPING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 7, 1939 INVENTOB. Lw/mszewxg:

ATTORNEY;

May 30, 1939. 1. LUKASIEWICZ CLIP FORMING AND CLAMPING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Jan. 7, 1939 INVE NTORQ Ignaz izas' lu/mszewzg. BY W ATTORNEY.

' Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES GPYATENT OFFIQE The purpose of the invention is to provide a machine of simple construction and a minimum number of working parts for use in the manufacture of spring seats for automobiles and the 5 like. .It is known that in the manufacture of such seats coiled springs have to be attached to a wire frame. This up to this timewas done manually, in which case ready-made clips were used. The process was slow, tedious and the resuits were rarely uniform, for although much time was ordinarily consumed in clamping coiled springs to wire frames, said springs were too often only loosely bound to said frames, which condition resulted in weak construction and was conducive to production .of squeaks and noises. The specific purpose of my machine, therefore, is to make suitable clips, so that each clip upon having been formed may'lmmediately be utilized in the same machine in clamping the frame of 20 the spring seat to the respective coiled spring. As

a matter of fact, formation of the clip and clamping are only successive operations of the same machine. In the course of manufacture of the above said 25 seats, the coiled springs which form a part thereof and are already connected to each other, are

placed on the table or platform forming the top of the machine. A seat frame is placed on the platform in such a manner that said coils 30 are inside thereof and in abutment thereto, whereupon both the coils and the frame are advanced to that part of the machine which contains the necessary dies, as will be described below. When the machine is actuated, a clip is formed and immediately made to embrace a part of the frame and the abutting section .of the coil spring clamping them firmly together. Thereupon, the frame is moved manually so that another coiled spring with the abutting section of the frame is exposed to the operation of the machine, when again, the machine set in motion by its operator forms another clip' and by means of said clip binds the spring to the frame. This operation is repeated as often as necessary.

45 I shall now describe the machine with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 shows an end view of my machine. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged longitudinal sectional 50 view of the upper part of my machine.

Fig. 4 shows a plan view thereof. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged view of a part of the top of the machine as seen from above. 7

Fig. 6 shows a section of a part of the machine 55 taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 3. a

Fig. I shows a section of a part of the machine taken on line of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 shows a section of a part of the machine taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 shows an enlarged cross-section of a slideable bar carrying a transversely moving die.

Figs. 10 to 14 show progressive stages in the formation of a clip around parts to be joined.

Fig. 15 shows a plan view of a joint effected by a formed clip. 10

" Fig. 16 shows the samejoint in section.

Figs. 17 and 18 show a fragmentary view of a mechanism to actuate a transversely moving die.

Figs. 19 and 20 show other details of the same mechanism. 15

Fig. 21 shows a guide for ribbon material.

Fig. 22 shows the arrangement of gears actuating the operative parts of the machine.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 20

The machine comprises an elevated top or platform 20, supported on legs 2| resting on base 22. The top is of considerable thickness, as dies cooperating in shaping and clamping clips are all supported by said table and move thereon 25 in tracks orways out or sunk in the surface thereof. Said top is substantially flat so that the seat frame, to which springs are to be affixed, may be placed thereon and moved easily about in order that it may be in the most convenient position for the work to be performed thereon by the machine. Clips which are shaped by the machine are made of a thin metal ribbon 25, which isfed into the machine from a suitable source through guide 26. The guide is made of a flat strip of metal with a horizontal slot therein to accommodate said ribbon. On having passed through the guide, the ribbon is taken up by rollers 21 and 21a, opposed to each other and suitably supported within the frame of the ma- 4o chine. As will be later shown, these rollers move only intermittently so that the ribbon is fed into the machine in a periodical movement with respect to the operation thereof. Moved by said rollers; said ribbon 25 is advanced through pas- 5 sage 29 formed by block 28 and block 28a secured thereto, as shown in Fig. 6. The free end of the ribbon 25, when so advanced by the rollers, is made to extrude through an opening at the top of said table 20 so as to abut against a die 3| means of a movable clamping piston 38 located within a well 34, hollowed in the surface of block 28 and bounded on one side by movable rod 48. The piston within the well is mounted on shaft 35. Spring 36 is coiled over shaft 35 and is positioned so that it is compressed between lugs 31 projecting from the side of the well and an annular flange 38 affixed to shaft 35. Only one lug 31 is shown but there may be more, or an interior rim may take their place, the purpose of this structure being to prevent the upper end of spring 36 from bearing against the lower side of the piston head 38. At its opposite end, said spring bears against the annular flange 38 and holds the piston in a normal position, leaving a suflicient clearance at its upper end for a free passage of ribbon 25. When, however, it is necessary to have the ribbon retained in a fixed position, this is accomplished by means of a movable rod 48, provided with a shoulder 4| fitting over the shaft 35 just below the flange 38. It will be seen from the description that when rod 40 is moved upward, the shoulder 4|, bearing against flange 38, will raise piston 38 against the tension of the spring 36 upward so as to clamp ribbon 25 in its passage 29.

Disposed in the surface of the table in a track cut therein is fiat bar 32, its base being somewhat wider than its top, as shown in Fig. 9. Afiixed to its operative end is an elongated rodlike member or die 32a, one side of said rod being fiat, the opposite side being rounded, so that in cross-section on a line transverse to its longitudinal axis it substantially represents a semicircle, as shown in Fig. 9. This die 32w may form an integral part of bar 32 being an extension thereof, but it is preferred, however, that it. should be made detachable so that in case one die is worn out or damaged another die may be substituted therefor. Said bar 32 is adapted to slide in its track in a direction transverse tothe path of the ribbon, that is at right angle to said path, so that die or member 32a may be periodically projected above the path of the ribbon and so that the rounded surface of die 32a may serve as a shaping mandrel for said ribbon. From the top the bar is covered by plate 45, which may be aflixed to the top of the table by screws or other means. The movement of this bar with its die is timed so that the die slides over ribbon 25 when a sufiicient quantity of said ribbon'has appeared in the aforesaid opening in the top of the table as to reach stationary die 3|. This transversely slideable bar 32 is shown in cross-section in Fig. 9, whfle the mechanism necessary to accomplish said transverse movement is shown in Figs. 17, 18, 19 and 20. I shall omit the description of said mechanism for the present, but will return to it below, as my purpose at present is to show the main elements necessary in forming clips and. clamping them to the frames. When die 32a has by its mechanism been brought into position as shown in Fig. 3, another die 33 slideably mounted within the stationary block or die 3|, in such a manner that block 3| straddles over die 33, slides towards the ribbon in the direction opposite to the path of said r'ibbon's advance. Die 33 is actuated by a rod 45 connected to a cam 46, the latter being driven by a train of gears from a prime source of motive power. Owing to the action of said cam, said die 33 actuated by rod 45 is made to move in a reciprocating motion back and forth within the aforesaid block or die 3|. On its inward thrust towards the free end of ribbon 25, die

33 will bend over said free end of the ribbon over the transversely extending die 32a, shaping said end of the ribbon into an open loop as shown in Fig. 11.

At this stage of the operation the transversely slideable die 32a is withdrawn from within said loop and the rollers 21 and 210 are again set in motion so that another length of the ribbon is fed into the passage towards the shaping dies. When a suflicient length of said ribbon has been fed, rod 48 actuated by cam 48 is raised upwardly so that shoulder 4| engaging shaft 35 raises the clamping piston 38 towards passage 29 and clamps ribbon 25 in said passage. The movement of the rod continues, however, until cutting die 39 mounted on said movable rod 48, has been advanced far enough to cut off a portion of said ribbon material 25. It will be remembered that all this time, when the material is fed, the frame of the seat containing coiled springs to be affixed to said frame is resting upon the operative opening in table 20 so that the shaping, bending and cutting operations on said clip, then formed by the machine, are performed right beneath the respective section of the wire frame. When, therefore, the cutting die 39 cuts off a section of said ribbon material, said section is retained in place and prevented from flying upward by the respective section of said frame. Immediately after the cutting operation, rod 40 mounted on cam 48, which is in a continuous movement, will be withdrawn. The space, however, evacuated by the cutting die 39 on rod 49 is immediately taken up by die 33. Said die, as will be noted, is provided with a concave depression 49 on the surface thereof and serves both as a convenient support for the cut off and partly formed section of the ribbon material 25 and as an anvil for a succeeding operation of the machine.

It will be seen that at this stage in the formation of a clip, the respective section of the frame of the automobile seat and the respective section of the abutting coiled spring are partly enveloped by the open loop of the the unfinished clip. It remains now for the machine to, fold over the opposite end of said clip over said respective portions of the wire frame and the coiled spring and this is accomplished by another movable die 44 carried on a' movable ram 43' and adapted for a reciprocating motion from direction opposite to that of the operative motion of die 33. Said die 44 rises over surface of the table 20 as shown in Fig. 14, while ram 43 is slidingly disposed in block 28a in a dove-tailed seat within said block as shown in Fig. 6. Said ram is covered by plate 28a. 6'! is a steadying shaft sliding in block 68.

While the above description sets forth a complete cycle of operations, that is all the steps in their order necessary to form a clip out of a continuous strip of material, I wish to state that for best results it is desirable to break up this order of operations and to start the cycle at the point where the machine has shaped an open loop at the free end of the unsevered metal ribbon, or wire, out of which the clips are formed.

When a loop has been formed, the operator of the machine, having before him on the table the frame of an auto seat and adjoining coiled springs, shifts them into such a position that the respective portions of the frame and the spring are within said open loop. It. will be understood that while the frame is so shifted the machine is at standstill and that when set in to achieve this purpose.

tate during a fraction motionit performs its work in separate cycles. By this I mean that it performs all the necessary steps of the operation and stops until again set in motion by a suitable control which will be described below. It will be seen from the above, that when the machine is so set in motion, beginning at the stage where the free end of the ribbon was shaped into an open loop, the next operation will shear off the necessary length of the ribbon. Following this, die 33 which is to serve now as an anvil, will slide under said severed piece of ribbon to lift it to the level of the surface of table 20, whereupon die 44 will slide from the opposite direction, and ramming the loop against the rounded surface of die 3|, will turn over the opposite, that is the unlooped end of the severed ribbon.. This will complete the formation of a clip and will bind firmly together members encompassed thereby. This will make up a full cycle. The machine will be at rest so that the operator may shift and adjust upon the table the parts to be bound by another clip. When this has been completed the machine may be again set in motion, in order that the cycle may be repeated.

The motive power for the operation of the machine is supplied by a motor 24 running at a constant speed, and is conveyed to the operative parts of the machine by means of pulleys 50 and 5| and belt 52. A clutch-53 operated by pedal 54 controls transfer of power from the motor by intermediate means to master gear wheel 55, which by means of a chain of gears drives cams 46, 41 and 48. The latter actuate the reciprocating movement of dies performing the shaping and clamping operations above described.

It will be seen that the mechanism to actuate the dies may be easily changed and other means may be used to effect the same purpose. Whatever the mechanism, however, the dies must be actuated .in their respective order and it must be noted that the shaping die 33 must complete may be necessary to fully understand the operation of my machine. I have already said that the metal ribbon, or wire, out of which clips are to be made, is fed by rollers and that these rollers rotate intermittently, that is that they roof the period necessary for the completion of the full cycle of operations and then become inactive. Completing this explanation, I wishto add that these rollers are first rotated long enough tosupply into the aperture in the table, in which the clip is formed, a sufficient unsevered length of the ribbon or wire to form an open loop. When this has been formed, an additional length of the ribbon is supplied by the rotation of the rollers, whereupon the ribbon is sheared off. It will be thus seen that in each cycle described above the rollers rotate twice with an inactive interval in between. Numerals 56 and 51 in Fig.- 22 show mechanism I realize, however, that this detail is not inventive and that any other which, as above described, moves in a reciprocating glide transversely to the path of metal ribbon 25. This transverse movement is brought about by means of a drum cam 58, in which groove 59 guides a roller 60 on a rod Si in a motion parallel with shaft 52 on which the drum cam is mounted. Rod BI is connected to member 63, which is slidably mounted on shaft 6. Threaded into said member 63 from the top is rod 65 which at its opposite end is affixed to bar 32 carrying die 32a.

For the sake of emciency, it may be desirable to interpose a coiled compression spring on shaft 84 between member 63 and socket 66, supporting aid Jsiaft. Such an arrangement is shown in It will be obvious that anumber of changes may be made in the details of my machine without departing from the spirit and the main thought underlying my invention. What I, therefore, wish to claim is as follows:

1. In a clip forming and clamping machine of the kind described, a frame, a platform surmounting same and provided with an operative aperture therein, substantially in the middle thereof, roller means to feed into said aperture a continuous metal ribbon for clips, means to impart to said rollers an intermittent rotary motion, a reciprocating rounded member slideable into said aperture above said ribbon and transversely to the path thereof, a reciprocating shaping die adapted to turn the free end of the advancing ribbon over the rounded member into an open loop, a cutter to sever a length of ribbon for a clip, a reciprocating clamping die to operatively slide in the direction of the advancing ribbon to turn over the severed end into a complete loop and to clamp together members encompassed thereby,means to actuate saidrollers and cutters in a predetermined order, and pedal means to control the operation of the machine.

2. In a clip forming and clamping machine of the kind described, a frame, a platform surmounting same and provided with an operative aperture therein, substantially in the middle thereof, roller means to feed into said aperture a continuous metal ribbon for clips, means to impart to said rollers an intermittent rotary motion, a reciprocating rounded member slideable in said aperture above said ribbon and transversely to the path thereof, a reciprocating shaping die adapted to turn the free end of the advancing ribbon over the rounded member into an open loop, the upper surface of said die being adapted to serve as an anvil for the succeeding clamping operation, a cutter to sever a length of ribbon for a clip, means actuated by said cutter to wedge said ribbon in a temporary stationary position during the operation of the cutter, a reciprocating die to operatively slide in the directionof the advancing ribbon to turn over. the severed end into a complete loop and to clamp together on the anvil shaped die members encompassed by said loop, means to actuate said rollers and cutter in a predetermined order, and pedal means to control the operation of the machine.

3. In a power driven clip forming and clamping machine of the kind described, a frame, a platform surmounting same and provided with an operative aperture therein, substantially in the middle thereof, roller means to feed into said aperture a continuous metal ribbon for clips, means to impart to said rollers an intermittent rotary motion, a reciprocating rounded member slideable intosaid aperture above said ribbon and transversely to the path thereof, a clamping block provided with a concave face rising above the surface of the table on the edge of the aperture on the side furthest from the direction of the advancing ribbon, a reciprocating shaping die slideable within said block and adapted to turn the free end of the advancing ribbon over the rounded'member into an open loop, the upper surface of said die being adapted to serve as an anvil for a succeeding clamping operation, a cutter to sever a length of ribbon for a clip, means actuated by said cutter to wedge said ribbon in a temporary 10 stationary position during the operation 01' the IGNATIUS LUKASIEWICZ. 10 

